John said to Andre: I agree there is competition at all levels. I do not agree there is competition between the levels.
Andre replied: I agree John and am unsure whether I have stated otherwise. I have always maintained that between the levels there is a struggle for domination, a competition for domination, a conflict of interests (if you like) where a higher 'form of evolutionary value patterns' competes for domination with the lower evolved value patterns. ... dmb says: A conflict of interests. That's a pretty good way to put it. The distinction between levels is based on the idea that each level is its own kind of morality. The value that holds the thing together totally depends on what kind of thing is being maintained. In effect, each level has its own separate goal. "The 'value' that holds a glass of water together and the 'value' that holds a nation together are obviously not the same thing. Therefore to say that the world is nothing but value is just confusing, not clarifying. Now this vagueness is removed by sorting out values according to levels of evolution. The value that holds a glass of water together is an inorganic pattern of value. The value that holds a nation together is a social pattern of value. They are completely different from each other because they are at different evolutionary levels. And they are completely different from the biological pattern that can cause the most sceptical of intellectuals to leap from a hot stove. These patterns have nothing in common except the historic evolutionary process that created all of them. But that process is a process of value evolution. Therefore the name 'static pattern of values' applies to all." (Pirsig, LILA, Chapter 12) Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
